


A Bruce Banner Christmas

by Suzelle



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Parties, Clone High - Freeform, Gen, Mistletoe, Snowflake Day, quasi-fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2012-12-23
Packaged: 2017-11-22 03:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/605510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzelle/pseuds/Suzelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce hasn't spent the holidays in the States in years. Once Tony realizes this, he goes a little nuts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bruce Banner Christmas

Bruce had never been that big on Christmas, even before the accident. In his eyes the holidays were always about presents and family, and he grew up with not a lot of money and a family that was shot to hell. And once the Other Guy showed up, once he was resigned to spending his days on the run, the 25th became just another day on the calendar. He’d take stock of it everyone once in awhile if he happened to be in a town, and he’d loved Diwali while he was in Calcutta, but beyond that the lights and celebrations of the years’ end always passed him by.  
  
Of course, once Tony realizes that Bruce hadn’t had a proper Christmas in nearly a decade he goes a little nuts.  
  
“We’ve got to have a party,” he says, “Not just the SI company party, though you’ve gotta come to that too, it’s a guarantee for a good lay. We’ll have a smaller thing up in the Tower, invite the people in SHIELD that we like, and Pep’s friends…”  
  
“SHIELD has people we like?” Bruce asks sardonically. Tony rolls his eyes.  
  
“Well, we’ve got to keep up appearances,” he says, “And besides, the more parties the merrier, this month isn’t good for anything else anyway… ”  
  
He can clearly tell that Bruce is still skeptical, though, because he turns of the music and gives Bruce one of those rare “I’m not fucking around” looks.  
  
“Bruce, c’mon, you’ve been deprived of eggnog and good company for way too long,” he says, “And you can’t go wrong with Christmas parties. Let’s do this, it’ll be a good thing for all of us.”  
  
Bruce shakes his head as he buries his head back into his work.  
  
“If anything, you’ve gotta be doing this for Thor, he’s never so much as had a December on Earth…”  
  
Bruce suddenly wishes he’d kept his mouth shut, for Tony gets that manic gleam in his eye.  
  
“Imagine when that motherfucker discovers the purpose of mistletoe,” he says with a grin, “SHIELD isn’t gonna know what hit ‘em.”  
  
***  
  
Steve and Tony get into a fight about terminology.  
  
“I can’t believe I’m the one who has to tell this to you, Tony,” Steve says as they all head out of the SHIELD conference room, “You’ve got to call it a Holiday Party. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and we’ve got to be inclusive…”  
  
“Jesus, how many PC-talks has Fury drilled into your head since he de-thawed you?” Tony rolls his eyes and brushes past him, “Look, if people want to celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa at this shindig they can go right ahead. But it's gonna be strictly Christmas themed—jingle bell rock, Santa baby, ho ho ho, all that crap. There’s no point in pretending to call it anything else.”  
  
“It’s not about being PC, Tony, it’s about being considerate of everyone’s beliefs and making sure we don’t run into another PR disaster…”  
  
Bruce smiles into his coffee. It’s been a good long while since the two of them had gone at it like this, and he’s kind of missed the show.  
  
Clint eventually breaks in and suggests they call it a “Snowflake Day” party, in reference to some TV show he and Tony both seem to know. This is a good enough compromise for everyone, though when Bruce and Steve ask what Clone High is Clint and Tony exchange looks.  
  
“You don’t wanna know,” they chorus together.  
  
***  
  
Pepper goes all out, emailing Bruce long lists of baked goods that she wants to make and asking when he’s free to help out. It surprises him at first, because he’d never really pegged her as the domestic type, but she shows up to his apartment kitchen wearing a Santa hat and a ridiculous smile. She’s pretty terrible at baking, as it turns out, but she can follow the instructions Bruce gives to her and she enjoys frosting the sugar cookies, and has a playlist of Christmas songs longer than there are hours in the day.  
  
“Things get quiet at the company this time of year,” she says, when he asks how she’s taken the time to do this, “and some of my favorite memories as a kid were staying up late baking Christmas cookies with my older brothers—it’s the one nostalgia-trip I indulge in. Besides, if I take the full two weeks off before the day it gives me more time for shopping.”  
  
 _Shopping…shit_ , Bruce thinks. Presents. He’d forgotten about those things.  
  
“Ah, Pepper,” he asks, “Are people…doing gifts at this thing?”  
  
“Well, I’m assuming Tony’s going to go all out as usual, but don’t expect anything of actual use,” she shakes her head. “You know, I kind of miss the days when I could just buy a present for myself and put it on his card…anyway, as for the rest, I don’t know. I’m guessing Steve’s the type who will try to get things for everyone.”  
  
“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Bruce gives a little laugh. Steve would be easy enough to shop for with his interest in art, and he supposes he could probably just go in for gift cards for the rest. But Tony…  
  
“Hey, what the hell do you _get_ a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, anyway?” he asks, “The guy’s not exactly in want of anything.”  
  
“Give him some new theory on how to create a Life Model Decoy and he’ll be pleased as punch,” Pepper says, “Tony doesn’t give gifts expecting reciprocity.”  
  
 _Yeah_ , Bruce thinks, _that’s part of the problem._ He’s tried not to think too hard about how much Tony’s given him in the past months, how much he owes him that he can never repay…  
  
Pepper looks like she can guess some of what Bruce is thinking, for she reaches over to pat him on the arm with a flour-coverd hand.  
  
“Don’t sweat it, Bruce,” she says, “Tony’ll appreciate anything you give to him. Believe me, it’s been more than enough of a gift for him to have you staying here, these past few months.”  
  
Bruce thinks that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but he appreciates the sentiment.  
  
***  
  
Bruce always enjoys Tony’s parties well enough, but he’s never much of an active participant, usually content to sit in the back corner and watch the fun from a distance (with the one exception of the night Clint persuaded him to drink more than two beers and the two of them cleared the room with an impromptu swing-dancing competition). He spends most of the first hour catching up with Jane Foster and getting into a heated debate about the most creative way of breaking through the Coloumb barrier, which is fun enough. Tony’s managed to convince Thor that the point of mistletoe is to kiss as many of the guests as possible—bonus points if they’re a SHIELD agent.  
  
 Jane moves on to steal Thor back from Steve, and Bruce wanders towards his usual spot by the window, only to find Natasha sitting there. She’s wearing a dark blue dress that goes nicely with her hair and makes her look slightly less deadly than normal—relaxed, even.  
  
“Haven’t seen you in awhile,” he says as he approaches, “SHIELD keeping you away from the Initiative on purpose?”  
  
“Not on purpose,” she says, “I’ve been needed in a couple tight spots no one else could get into, and things have mostly settled down in New York anyway. I think Fury wants a big meeting with the six of us in January, though—if he can persuade you and Stark, that is.”  
  
“Catch him tonight, when he’s in a good mood,” he says gesturing over to where Tony was laughing and dancing with Pepper. Natasha raises an eyebrow as she looks on.  
  
“Enjoying yourself tonight, Doctor?” she asks.  
  
“Well enough,” he says, leaning back against the table, “‘it’s been…a long time since I’ve been to one of these. Even before the Other Guy, going all out for the holidays was never really my style.”  
  
“What was it, then?” she asks dryly, “test-tube ornaments hanging from Christmas trees?”  
  
“Something like that,” he laughs, “Lots of grading final exams and scrambling to make sure I wasn’t stuck ordering take-out by myself on the actual day.”  
  
“Ah,” Natasha says, but doesn’t say anything else.  
  
“What about you?” he asks, “I can’t imagine SHIELD stops running for the holidays.”  
  
She tilts her head in acknowledgement.  
  
“Well, if we’re on a mission, yes, there’s not much to be done,” she says, “it’s just another day. But Clint and I usually try to take a day for ourselves before the New Year, make a nice dinner, presents, all that. It’s nice. Something like tradition, at least.”  
  
Bruce nods. He’s starting to catch on to the fact that most of the people in SHIELD have had to make their own family.  
  
“So, Doc, which do you prefer?” Natasha asks, gesturing out to the crowd with her champagne glass, “test-tube ornaments or a Norse god dancing to ‘Billie Jean’?”  
  
Bruce chuckles, but wonders if there’s a larger question hidden beneath it—knowing Natasha, there probably is. No one in SHIELD’s ever outright asked him how long he’s planning to stick around, but Bruce knows they're wondering. There are days, still, weeks even, where he doesn't know what to make of this new life, wonders how long the relative calm can last before the next crisis arrives to turn his life back upside-down again. There are days his gut still tells him to run as fast as he can away from SHIELD, away from the Initiative, away from anything remotely associated with the Other Guy.  

But he's almost grown used to it all, at this point, and people here have been good to him. Better than he ever would have expected, given the baggage that he brings along. And that's something he's definitely missed in his life.

“No,” he says at last, “No, this is good. Best Christmas I’ve had in a long time, one way or another.”  
  
“Glad to hear it,” she says, and offers him a rare smile.    
  
***

Bruce lets go a little more than usual as the night wears on, mostly because Natasha slipped an extra shot into his hot buttered rum and even Steve had devolved into dancing to Michael Jackson (and wasn’t that a sight to see). He’s still managed to avoid Thor and the mistletoe, because Bruce is nothing if not unobtrusive when he wants to be, but Tony, because he’s an asshole, points Thor in his direction as the party starts to break up.  
  
“Looks like you got  all but one tonight, buddy,” Tony says, clapping Thor on the back, “If you really want to win the Grand Yuletide Prize, though, you gotta get the nerdlets too.”  
  
Bruce just has time to throw Tony a look of wounded betrayal before however many pounds of Asgardian muscle loom over him. So much for the loyalty of lab partners.  
  
“Merry Christmas, Dr. Banner!” Thor exclaims, before planting a wet and not-entirely-sober kiss on Bruce’s mouth, “and a Happy New Year!”  
  
He bounds away with Bruce standing, a little shell-shocked, before he wipes his mouth and turns back to Tony with infinite patience.  
  
“It’s like having an overintelligent puppy,” Tony chuckles, “An overintelligent puppy that commands lighting.”  
  
“I,” Bruce says with complete calm, “Am going to kill you.”  
  
“Just make sure there’s a photo op first, big guy,” Tony slings his arm around Bruce’s shoulder. “Green and red together—it’s the picture-perfect Christmas card.”  
  
Bruce laughs in spite of himself. He looks back over the year and still doesn’t quite understand how it’s ended up at this particular moment—but here, now, he’s not going to question it.

**Author's Note:**

> This whole fic is completely shameless, but nothing so much as the [Clone High](http://www.clone-high.com/) reference. I make no apologies for any of it :D.


End file.
